Hide and Seek
by blondecomicartist
Summary: A oneshot. Opal returns from a mission in less than pristine condtion, she requests the aid of a certian grumpy medic to keep her hidden from Optimus. Optimus/Ratchet/OC


**Hey everyone, i just made this today just for fun and to practice with my story's characters. This is just a oneshot, but It was alot of fun to make. This is not part of my "Protector of the Precious Stone" but it's a taste of what's to come:D Hope you enjoy it. I have envisioned my stories in the Transformers Prime contunuity, but i love Ironhide to so even though he's not in the show, I 'll still have him in my stories. **

**All Transformer and their quotes from Transformers Prime belong to Hasbro. I own Opal:P **

Opal was just returning from a scouting mission. It was a routine operation: Explore possible enemy territory, and then report back any information on potential Decepticon activity. Unfortunately, while she was used to these reconnaissance assignments, she didn't always necessarily come back to base unscathed.

It was dusk when she reached her destination. A small Cybertronian energon mine, thought to be abandoned. However, thanks to Ratchet's ever useful ability to pinpoint high energon spikes, the team questioned if the mine was truly empty. To investigate, Opal was commissioned to scout the area. Either there were still deposits of energon, which the Autobots would desperately need, or there were cons up to no good.

_**Autobot Base before mission:**_

"Opal, your petite, femme size would allow you to maneuver through the narrow tunnels while maintaining your stealth, however the choice is yours to accept this task or not. I would never force you into any dangerous situation." Optimus' regal baritone was filled with compassion. Opal had never heard a tone that could sound so intimidating and yet so caring at the same time. Sometimes she wondered if Optimus knew the effect his god-like voice had on his team. And if he did, she wondered if he used it intentionally for his own advantage. He must have known that Opal could not say no to her considerate, gentle leader. In any situation, Optimus would gladly sacrifice himself to protect his Autobots, so Opal would in turn gladly return the favor.

"I will, without question, accept this mission for you sir." Opal professionally volunteered. Seeing Optimus' optics light up by her politeness and steadfast willingness to do anything for him made all her efforts worth it.

"Very well. Ratchet prepare the ground bridge." Optimus turned to face the red and white medic. Once the bright cerulean and green portal cracked and whirred in their base's entrance, Optimus then bent down to reach an eye level with Opal.

"You will be bridged near the location of the mine, but not directly on site, lest we stir unwanted attention. Your energon tracker will supply you with the exact coordinates, and we will be in constant contact." His voice said professional commander, but his optics said concerned family member. They were after all, one big family.

"Yes sir." Opal couldn't help but release a small grin. Optimus' face softened from his usual unreadable, serious expression and gently smiled back to her. That was another one of Opal's weaknesses with Optimus. His rare but beautiful smile.

With all the supplies and weapons she needed, Opal departed through the ground bridge.

The growing darkness helped to hide Opal from any unwanted optics. Although her large blue optics and bright blue armor did shine through the shadows, Opal was skilled enough to know how to conceal herself from enemy sight. As a precaution, when she came upon a puddle of mud, she covered her arms and most of her chassis to take away her armor's reflective surface. Of course it had to be full moons tonight. The mission was proceeding as planned with no complications. Opal had seen enough patrolling guards in the tunnels to safety confirm that there definitely were Decepticons in the mine.

She had yet, however to find the main point of operation. With skilled and graceful stealth, Opal snuck farther into the tunnels. The Deceptions who got in her way were quietly and swiftly neutralized.

One Decepticon put up more of a fight than Opal was expecting. He managed to strike her a couple of times, before a deadly precise slice to the throat sent her opponent to the ground. She did not look back, assuming the con was offline, and continued down the tunnel. That was where her mission began to go downhill. Her last supposed kill was in fact still online, and he managed to signal of an intruder.

The mines immediately filled with the barking of orders and Cybertronian cursing from the alerted cons. Opal could not continue to the center of the mine if she wanted to remain online. Accepting that she could at least tell the Autobots that this was enemy territory, Opal quickly requested for a ground bridge back to base.

She ran into the safety of the base, and was instantly abhorred by her appearance. At least when she was in the dark, she couldn't see how she looked, but now in the bright lights, all evidence of her activities in the filthy mine were revealed. Luckily, the center console room was empty, but the Autobots were surely going to come to her soon.

Mud and energon, both hers and the enemys', caked her once pristine armor. She had suffered minor injuries: scrapes, bruised faceplates, but nothing major. But still this mission was only supposed to be safe recon. If Optimus saw her leaking energon and covered in muck, he would feel awful for having her go, even though she willfully volunteered.

To make sure Optimus didn't see her in this state, she ran into the med bay where hopefully she'd find Ratchet.

"Ratchet are you here?" Opal slowly walked in and closed the large sliding doors behind her. "Ratchet!" She called again.

"I'm busy!" The grumpy medic yelled from some hidden nook in the laboratory.

"Ratch I need a patch job and a trip to med bay's washracks." Ratchet suddenly poked his head over a towering mass of various metal components in a far corner of the room. Opal chuckled at how adorable he looked as he peered his optics to see who his visitor was.

"BY The ALLSPARK! Opal what happened, you look…"

"I know Ratch please, Optimus is probably looking for me to debrief with him and I can't let him see me like this. He hates it when any of us get hurt."

Ratchet grumbled and rubbed his optics in annoyance. Finally he rolled his optics, and Opal then knew he would help hide her until she was more presentable.

"How badly are you hurt?" He asked pulling out his scanner and examining her full body.

"Not serious at all, but I do have some abrasions and scrapes."

"Alright…go to the wash racks first then I'll patch you up." Ratchet motioned to the back wash room which he reserved only for his patients. Opal wasted no time, and ran in clean herself up. She was so excited to feel the heated solvent on her body, and to get all the grim off her armor.

When she looked the doors to the showers, Ratchet released a mumble of aggravation.

"By Primus…femmes." He then continued with his previous tasks.

Optimus nervously searched throughout the base. He knew she was somewhere in there, he was the one who activated the bridge for her after all. When he was sure he had extensively covered every possible parts of the base, he remembered he still hadn't looked in med bay. The thought that Opal was there made him worry even more. That was the last place he wanted her to be. But he still needed to find her, so he proceeded to check with Ratchet.

Opal had finished her wash, and was in a moment of warm bliss. Her beautiful blue armor glistened again, and her small cuts were clean from the filth. She walked back into the main medical room and found Ratchet once again enthralled in his work.

"Thank you so much Ratchet, but I still need you're medical assistance with these." She pointed to all the new imperfections on her armor that were previously hidden by the mud. "I actually found a larger wound on my hip that I didn't notice before, and it's starting to hurt." She gave him a pouted face and teased him with little whimper noises.

"I thought you were quite medically experienced Opal, and yet you're asking for _my_ help?" He was counteracting her with his wit. She did enjoy these moments they shared. Now it was her turn.

"Yeah I guess you're right, these are probably too challenging for you to fix up anyway. I'm sure I can find someone else to do it for me…Bulkhead would do it." The reaction she got from Ratchet was priceless. His optics widened with shock, and he opened his mouth in an angry, offended expression. Opal started to giggle. She just got away with insulting probably the greatest medic on Cybertron, but of course she wasn't going to tell him that.

"Bulkhead? BULKHEAD? Does he have any medical experience at all? NO. I thought not. Who is the most medically trained in this base?" Ratchet put his hands on his hips and glowered down at Opal. Ratchet knew he was enjoying this. He wouldn't admit it, but he loved Opal's company too.

"Well Ratchet that's not saying much. Although Optimus is probably really good with his hands." Opal couldn't resist bursting out laughing before she finished. Ratchet shook his head in utter disbelief at how foul mouthed this once so innocent femme had become. Although Ironhide probably contributed to most of it. He rolled his eyes, turned his back to her, and began to work on one of his computer consoles.

Opal playfully shrugged and turned around to look at the rest of the med bay.

"Don't touch anything." He flatly commanded, not even turning around. Ratchet was the kind of bot who knew when someone was going to do something mischievous and always beat them to it. Or he popped up at the worst possible moments.

Opal rolled her eyes and decided to just sit on one of the medical beds behind him. She wasn't leaving until he fixed her.

There was a long awkward silence.

"Ratchet."

"I'm busy"

"…Ratchet."

'inaudible growl'

"Hey Ratchet."

"No, Opal wait." Impatience and irritation were thick in his voice.

"Ratchet. Ratchet. Ratchet. Hey Ratchet. Are you done now. Ratchet?" He was trying to ignore her, but he was slowly losing a battle to remain tolerant. Opal could visibly see his head duck lower in anger, and his chassis begin to shake.

She didn't say anything for a few seconds, but Ratchet was still shaking in frustration.

"Rat-"

"WHAT? FOR THE LOVE OF PRIMUS WHAT DO YOU WANT?" He spun around and stomped his foot hard on the floor. His optics where filled with complete fury. Opal even thought she saw his right optic twitching slightly.

"I need you to fix me up before Op-" Before she could finish there was a knock on the med bay doors.

"Ratchet, its Optimus may I come in?" His deep voice echoed through the doors.

Ratchet quietly shooed Opal off the bed and told her to hide behind some of his equipment.

"Uh yes Optimus of course come in please do come in." Ratchet gave Opal a stern look to remain hidden and be quiet. He released a nervous moan; he knew that Optimus was looking for Opal. How could he lie to Optimus cover for Opal?

Optimus' heavy footsteps vibrated the floor as he entered; looking around as he came closer to Ratchet.

"What do you need old friend." Ratchet innocently asked.

"I am afraid I have not been able to locate Opal. She has not returned to debrief on the outcomes of her mission. I am worried for her safety. You haven't by any chance seen her have you?" His optics showed deep angst and worry, as he shifted them in all directions trying to find some clue of her whereabouts.

"Uh no Optimus, but I will definitely keep an optic out for her. She should have come to me too. Have you checked Bumblebee or Bulkhead? She's also close to them. Or maybe she went on patrol with Arcee." Primus he was bad at this.

Optimus raised a quizzical eyebrow and gave an unconvinced groan. He was obviously suspicious. Ratchet darted his optics to the side; he knew how awful of a liar he was.

Optimus stared at him for a long breem before shifting his weight on one of his large hips to leave.

"Well, please inform me once you receive any information of her whereabouts."

"Of course Optimus, I'm sure she's fine." Ratchet said reassuringly.

Optimus nodded and turned his massive body to walk out of the med bay.  
Opal felt awful for causing Optimus to worry so much. She was so touched though that he cared so much for his bots. For her. She sighed in relief and leaned back on the stack of metal components which were hiding her. But her added pressure caused the tower to become unstable, and it immediately began crashing down.

The sound of clanging and clashing metal could be heard through out the base. Optimus stopped mid step when he heard the commotion behind him. He rushed back into Ratchet's lab to make sure he was ok.

Broken tools and appliances littered the lab floor. There was practically no clear space to walk through. Optimus stared in shock as he saw Opal hunched over and looking up from under her wrapped arms around her head. When she saw him, her optics widened with nervous fright. She felt so guilty and definitely looked it too.

Ratchet was ducked over covering his audio receptors from the deafening commotions that the falling objects caused. He opened his optics, and turned around to find a very tiny Opal with an apologetic smile on her face. Both Optimus and Ratchet gave her extremely disapproved looks.

Ratchet took a glance at the inconceivable mess in his room, then at his broken tools.

"OPAL…I NEEDED THAT!"

**Haha oh Ratchet. I know he would never lie to Optimus, but this is for the sake of the story:P Please review! Any comments or suggestions on my writing would be greatly appreciated! **


End file.
